Review: Chris Ramsey

What better way to kick off a Christmas weekend than a good laugh - and Chris Ramsey delivered plenty to sell-out shows at the Norwich Playhouse.

Ramsey is one of the recent crop of young, feel-good comedians with overly complex hair, and that persona was matched by a relatively young audience.

His material chimed well with them too, with several routines around the basic conceit of ‘feeling lucky’ at the millions of events through the ages that led to him (and all of us) being born. This was a cue for lots of jokes about parental sex and child-hood reminiscence about near scrapes that somehow avoided being tragedies, all delivered with a broad and inviting grin.

Less comfortably for this critic, the gig opened with some crowd interaction that triggered gentle jeering when one audience member said they worked for the local paper: apparently we’re not as good as we used to be. But then what is?

There weren’t any gags that left the audience helpless with laughter or truly memorable routines, but what Ramsey delivers is more of a warm comedy hug. Good-natured, enjoyable, and a great opener for festive fun.

Chris Ramsey will be back in Norwich performing at the UEA LCR on January 9, 2013.